


A Marriage of Convenience

by Rachello344



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Oblivious!Kaito, developing feelings, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 22:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7073617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachello344/pseuds/Rachello344
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaito needs to get married in order to get financial aid for college.  The only person he could ask agrees to go through with it.  Somehow, marrying Kudou Shinichi for a grant was not the worst idea he'd ever had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Marriage of Convenience

**Author's Note:**

> The second of my self-indulgent fic! If you like it, consider leaving a comment! (It keeps me motivated. ;D)

Kaito sighed, gazing down at the letter in his hands with dismay. No scholarship unless he turned twenty four, had a child, or got married.  Sitting down at the kitchen table, he ran through his options.  As he had barely turned twenty one, he couldn’t conceivably turn twenty four in time to get his scholarship.  He wasn’t ready to become a father, nor did he know any girl willing to have a kid with him.  And, well, the only girls he knew were his best friend and her girlfriend, so they were completely out of the question anyway.

Which left marriage.

He hummed to himself. He could legally get married at twenty one.  That would be the easiest course of action, but the problem was who could he marry?  The girls were out, obviously.  They were dating and he didn’t really want to get in the way of that.  He’d rather spend the night at an _aquarium_ than marry Hakuba.

Sighing, he pulled out his phone. He only had one option, so he might as well give it a shot.

“can u marry me”

After a few minutes, it occurred to him that more information might be required, so he sent another text with the details of his scholarship. He set his phone down and resigned himself to wait.

He and Kudou weren’t exactly _close_ , per se, not like Kaito was with Aoko or Hakuba, but taking down criminal organizations together had granted them something of a rapport.  And, as they went to the same school, they hung out periodically.

Kudou came to all his magic shows.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll marry you. I need a better FAFSA application, too.”

Kaito’s heart skipped a beat.

“wait srsly?? Would u rly do it???”

“Yes? I said I would, didn’t I?  I looked it up, and it seems rather simple.  I’m not sure how long we’ll need to remain married, but the divorce process won’t be too difficult as we won’t be sharing assets or dealing with children.”

Kaito thought he might cry. He hit the call button, too happy to type out a response when he could speak to Kudou himself.

_“Hello.”_

“Kudou, I could _kiss_ you!  You’re really helping me out here, man!”

He could practically hear Kudou rolling his eyes through the line. _“Well, if we’re doing this, you might actually have to do just that, so keep that feeling in mind.”_

“Oh, that’s true, huh. How are we going to do this?  File for a marriage certificate or something?  It needs to be pretty soon or the semester’s going to start before we can file for aid.”

_“Yeah, I know a guy at the courthouse who can fast-track us, so that won’t be a problem. We will need to move in together, though, or it’ll be obvious we’re doing this for the financial aid.”_

“Oh, right.” Kaito laughed.  “So, here’s the thing, I can make this scholarship cover an apartment as well.”

_“Really? Kaito, that’s great!”_

Kaito froze, his cheeks going warm. After a long beat, Kudou laughed at him.

 _“If we’re going to be married we should definitely be calling each other by first name,_ Kaito _.”_

Kaito shivered. “Well, yeah, but I wasn’t expecting it _now_.  I mean, honestly, Shinichi, you can’t just pull something like that on me out of nowhere!”

 _Shinichi_ remained silent for a long moment.  _“Yeah, okay, I see what you mean. That was weird.  Anyway, why don’t we get lunch later and talk out the details?”_

“How’s tomorrow?”

 _“Sounds great,_ Kaito. _”_

“Awesome, _Shinichi_ , I’ll see you then.”  Laughing, they both hung up.  Kaito flopped down onto his couch with a wide smile.  This was going to work perfectly.

 

* * *

 

He got the rings mostly as a joke, but when the jeweler asked if he wanted them engraved, well, he couldn’t really resist, and his last show had gone so well… With a wide smile, he placed his order.  So it was a joke, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to put thought into it.

He was getting married, after all.

 

* * *

 

When the day came, they met at the courthouse. Shinichi was dressed sharply, his red bowtie back in place at his throat.  Seeing it, Kaito felt like the rings were a good idea after all.  They were partners, and Shinichi trusted him.  He would probably appreciate them, even if all they got was a laugh.

Linking arms, they swept into the courtroom.

“I’ve missed this shirt,” Shinichi said, plucking at the cuff and smiling at him. “You should wear it to your magic shows.  The vest is a nice touch, by the way.”  Kaito glanced down.  He wasn’t sure about it, but the white made him feel more at ease.  It was probably a little formal for the occasion, but it felt like the right choice.

“One of us should be wearing white, right?” He chuckled to himself before hesitating.  “I, uh, brought the monocle for luck,” he admitted.  Shinichi laughed under his breath, easing his worries.  “I was actually planning on wearing this to my big debut, but I felt like it was a good choice.  Given the way we met, and all.”

With a knowing smile, Shinichi tapped at the bowtie. “It’s the same one from back then.”

Kaito was struck by the strangest urge to kiss his smile. Something about the sentiment, heavy in the air between them, was making something well up from within him.  Had Shinichi always been so pretty?  Kaito thought the answer was probably yes, but he didn’t feel like it was a good time to ask him.  (Was there a good time to ask something like that?)

Still feeling embarrassingly emotional, Kaito followed Shinichi when their names were called. His cheeks felt warm for some reason.  There was probably something wrong with him.  His palms were starting to sweat and his mouth felt dry.  His heart was beating out a samba in his chest.

Shinichi shot him a worried look, but seemed completely unaffected by the situation at hand. _Are you okay with this?_ he mouthed, squeezing his arm.  Kaito nodded.

“Just a little nervous for some reason,” he whispered, forcing a laugh. Shinichi nodded, but didn’t look reassured.

The ceremony itself went by in a flash, nothing more than a few words, brief vows, and then before he was ready, he was being asked for the rings. Cheeks still hot, he ducked his head, and pulled them out of his pocket.  Checking the engravings quickly, he passed the ring meant to be his to Shinichi.

The moment Shinichi read the word, his cheeks went scarlet. Coughing to cover up his hesitation, he took Kaito’s left hand and slid the ring on.  Kaito did the same.  If anything, seeing his own made Shinichi’s cheeks redder.

“You may now kiss the groom,” the officiate said, chuckling.

Leaning in for a quick peck like they’d agreed, he was caught off guard by the force of Shinichi’s kiss, their lips sealed together with a dizzying pressure. Kaito wasn’t sure, but he might have whimpered a little, arching into the hand on his lower back.

When they pulled apart, Kaito fought to catch his breath. Shinichi’s eyes were dark and focused on him.  He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he hoped he found it.  His hand was firm against the small of his back, steadying Kaito even as it made him feel a little faint.  Was he holding his breath?

“Congratulations, Kudou. I hope the two of you are happy together.”  Kaito jolted a little at the reminder that they weren’t alone.  Right, they were getting married for the scholarship.  This was all going according to plan.

“Thank you. I’m sure we will be,” Shinichi said.  His smile looked a little forced, and he sounded out of breath.  Kaito sympathized.  He wasn’t sure, but he thought if he tried to walk, his legs might give out.  Even so, he somehow managed to follow Shinichi out of the room, holding his hand and keeping the dazed smile on his face.

The ring already felt like it was supposed to be there, heavy and real on his finger. Shinichi’s grip on his hand was a little stronger than was strictly necessary, but Kaito decided not to say anything.  It looked like he was thinking pretty hard about something.

Once they were outside and down the steps, Shinichi spun around. “Y-You!”  That said, he seemed uncertain of how to proceed.

Hesitantly, Kaito pressed him, “Me…?”

“Yes! You—You went and—they’re so—why?”

Kaito opened his mouth, but hesitated, puzzling through to figure out what he was supposed to be answering. The only thing he could think of…  “Is this about the rings?”

“Obviously! They’re so—they’re—I don’t understand why you went to the trouble!”

“Well, it wasn’t any trouble. At first I thought it would be funny, since the guy at the store asked if we had any nicknames or important dates we wanted engraved, and well…  What better than ‘Kaitou’ and ‘Meitantei’ right?”  Kaito frowned at him.  “Should I not have?  We can’t return them, but we can get plain bands if you’d rather.”

Shinichi refused to meet his eyes. “No, we don’t need to replace them.  They’re just…  They’re embarrassing is all.”

Kaito nodded. “Good, because I like them.  Now, my turn:  that kiss was certainly a surprise.  What happened to keeping it quick and chaste?”

“Oh, right, sorry about that. I realized he thought we were in love, so I improvised.  And, well, if someone I was in love with surprised me with engraved wedding bands…  I certainly wouldn’t limit myself to anything chaste.  Sorry I surprised you, though.”

Kaito grinned and retook his hand. “Don’t worry about it!  Now let’s get lunch, huh?  I’m starving.”

 

* * *

 

Hakuba stared at him, distinctly unimpressed. Kaito slurped his milkshake obnoxiously.

“Let me get this straight—”

“Already wrong, Hakuba, this is not exactly a _straight_ arrangement.”

“Shut up, Kuroba. Or is it Kudou now?”

“No, we kept our own names. We’re both already well known under our own names, after all.”

Hakuba sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You married Kudou in order to get a better scholarship.”

“Yes.”

“And he _agreed_ to marry you?”

“Yeah, pretty much right away. It was great.”  Kaito spun the ring around his finger.  He’d taken to fidgeting with it since he got it.  He liked the way the metal felt, warm around his finger.  It felt like a tangible connection to Kudou and reassured him for some reason.

Hakuba’s eyes dropped and immediately caught him toying with it. “So, there are no feelings involved?”

“None at all—I mean, friendship, obviously, but nothing romantic.”

Hakuba considered him for a long moment, his gaze more penetrating than usual. “I assume you’ll be getting divorce when school gets out, then?”

Kaito’s chest felt tight. He forced a smile and rolled his eyes.  “Obviously.  It’s not like we’re in love or anything, Hakuba.”

“Well, that’s good,” Hakuba said, leaning back. “When you get married for real, Aoko wanted to be your best man, you know.”

“You’re not going to fight her for the position?” Kaito teased.

“No, of course not. We agreed that I would be your maid of honor.”  Hakuba smirked at him.  Kaito gaped.

“Do I get to pick out your dress?”

They both laughed, the mood settling back into something more normal. Hakuba didn’t say anything about the inscription, and Kaito didn’t bring it up.

 

* * *

 

When he got back to their new apartment, he could hear a man yelling. Curious, he let himself in and peeked into the living room.

Shinichi was calmly unpacking his books with Ran, filling the bookshelf methodically. Hattori was pacing behind their couch, deep in his tirade.  When he saw Kaito, Hattori pointed at him, eyes narrowed.

“And _you_!  Where do you get off, marrying my bro in secret!”

Kaito blinked in surprise. “Well, it wasn’t really secret, so much as rushed.  Would you like a reenactment?”

Thrown off his rhythm, Hattori faltered. “What?  No, that’s not what this is about!”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize.” Unconcerned, Kaito put his keys away and left his phone on their kitchen table.  Rolling up his sleeves, he dug into Shinichi’s boxes, impressed by the amount of books he has.  “How did you get these boxes up here?  You’re not exactly strong, Shinichi.”

Ran laughed brightly. “He tried, but Hattori and I ended up carrying the books.  He got most of the other boxes up here, though.”

Shinichi blushed a pretty pink and huffed. “If you’re going to be mean to me, you can go home.  I was going to buy dinner for the only friends willing to help me move, but I refuse to put up with this in my own home.”

Kaito’s heart stuttered, and he fumbled a book he was slotting into the shelf. His body was betraying him, it was official.  What was he even reacting to?  Shinichi was just being overdramatic like always.  Although, it was the first time he’d called their new apartment home…

No, that couldn’t be it. He must be going crazy or something.

He shook off the weird warmth in his chest and went back to teasing Shinichi. Ran’s laugh and Hattori’s continued tirade filling the apartment with life.  Shinichi complained, but when Kaito threw his arm over his shoulder, he didn’t shake it off.  Kaito thought he might be happy after all.

 

* * *

 

The apartment only had one bedroom. Somehow in all the rush, Kaito had forgotten.  Once they were alone in the apartment, however, it became abundantly clear.  There was only one bedroom.  They were going to be sharing it.

“If you’re uncomfortable,” Shinichi said from the doorway, “I can sleep on the couch.”

Kaito shook himself from his whirling thoughts. He glanced back down at the bed.  It was a queen.  Plenty big enough for them both.  “No, there’s no need for that.”  Kaito shot him a wide smile.  “Don’t worry about me.  I just… might have forgotten for a second, but I’ll get used to it.  It’ll be like a sleepover.”

Shinichi rolled his eyes, but returned the smile. “Sure, Kaito, a never-ending sleepover.”

Kaito was surprised by how appealing that really was. So surprised that by the time they were both under the covers, he’d completely forgotten how nervous he was.  Exhausted from moving in, Kaito fell quickly asleep to the sound of Shinichi turning the page of his book.

 

* * *

 

Their feet were tangled together when they woke up, but their torsos were on their own halves of the bed. Based on the angle, Kaito thought Shinichi’s feet must have gotten cold in the middle of the night.  He smiled and considered buying him fuzzy socks to sleep in.  Slipping out of bed, he got up to make them breakfast.  Their first home-cooked meal in their apartment.

Kaito whistled to himself, decidedly pleased with the arrangement. This was all going remarkably well, Kaito thought.

 

* * *

 

Periodically, Kaito caught himself smiling down at the glittering flash of _Meitantei_ around his ring finger.  When he spun the ring, it caught the light with an appealing gleam.  Sometimes, Kaito caught Shinichi touching his ring when he was thinking hard about something.  It always made Kaito smile.

 

* * *

 

Kaito burst into the hospital room, his heart in his throat. Shinichi looked up at him from the bed, smiling thinly.  His face was ghastly pale, and Kaito could see bandages wrapped around his shoulder.  Kaito’s eyes were hot, and his lip was wobbling.

Taking a deep breath, he smacked Shinichi’s uninjured arm, putting on a glare.

“You _idiot_!  What were you thinking?” Kaito exclaimed, collapsing into the chair beside his bed.  “Ran called me, and then _Satou_ called me—I thought you were _dying_ , Shinichi!”

Shinichi sucked in a sharp breath. “Kaito, I’m sorry I scared you.  I won’t apologize for doing my job, though.”

Kaito sighed, deflating. “I know,” he mumbled.  He gripped the edge of the bed.  “I…  Satou told me you saved a little girl.  I—Even though I was worried, I…  I’m proud of you, Shinichi.  Just…  Don’t _scare_ me like that.”

Shinichi took his hand, surprising Kaito into raising his eyes. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

Before Kaito could reply, his phone buzzed against his leg. “Oh, right,” Kaito fumbled for the phone, keeping one hand in Shinichi’s, “Ran told me to tell her how you were immediately.”

“What, she couldn’t come in?” Shinichi asked, looking adorably perplexed. “Why not?”

“Family only for now,” Kaito said, squeezing his hand with his left in reminder. He answered his phone.  “He’s okay and awake.”

_“Oh, thank God. How does he look?”_

“Like shit.”

“Hey!”

“He’s too pale, and I feel like I should be feeding him.”

_“That’s normal after something like this. It’s funny, he always craves noodles after being injured, so he’s really easy to feed.”_

“Good, that’s something I know how to make,” Kaito said, laughing. “Did you want to talk to him?”

 _“Yes, please_.”

Kaito passed Shinichi the phone and leaned back in the chair. The plastic was uncomfortable and it dug into his shoulders.  He let his eyes trace slowly over Shinichi, taking in his injuries.  Aside from the gunshot wound in his shoulder, he seemed to only have a few scrapes and bruises.  Kaito wanted to find each one and…

What did he want to do after that? Just looking at them didn’t seem right.  Did he want to touch them for himself or something?

The stutter of his heart gave him pause. That… probably wasn’t good.  Did he have some kind of heart condition?  Maybe he should ask the doctor when she came in.

Shinichi waving his phone in front of his face brought him back to the present. Shinichi raised an eyebrow, but with the ruffled mess of his hair, it didn’t look nearly as imperious as usual.  Kaito smiled and took the phone back.

“You okay? You seemed far away for a bit there.”

“Fine,” Kaito assured him. “Just thinking.  I really don’t want to lose you, Shinichi.  You’re my best friend.”

Shinichi blushed faintly and ducked his head. “Idiot,” he mumbled.  “I’m not going anywhere.”  They squeezed their hands and fell into a companionable silence, broken only by the doctor’s entrance.

She explained the situation and agreed to release Shinichi if Kaito swore to make sure he didn’t overexert himself. Kaito grinned and saluted her.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll make sure to keep him under house arrest.  You have my word as a gentleman.”

Shinichi groaned, but the woman laughed. “I’m glad I’ll be leaving him in good hands.  You snagged yourself quite the husband, Kudou.  I’m happy for you.  Someone needs to be looking after you when you get yourself injured.”  She winked at Kaito.  “Make sure to kiss it better, okay?  Doctor’s orders.”

Kaito felt his face flood with heat. His heart pounded. _Oh_ , he thought, feeling a little dizzy. _That’s what I want to do._

“Doctor, please don’t encourage him,” Shinichi complained, distracting her from Kaito’s red face. “He’s already going to try to baby me, I can _tell_.”

“Not _baby_ , Shinichi.  I’m going to _take care of you_.  There’s a difference.  You’ve been _shot_ , you jerk.”  Kaito huffed.  He would cross his arms, but he didn’t want to let go of his hand.  “And what’s wrong with spoiling you, anyway?  You’re my husband.”

Shinichi shot the doctor a look as if to say, ‘Do you see what I have to put up with?’ The squeeze of his hand around Kaito’s belied the look.  The warmth in his cheeks faded, but new warmth spread through his chest.  Maybe he really was coming down with something.

 

* * *

 

Even though Shinichi huffed and whined and complained, he allowed Kaito free reign and accepted his “babying” without more than token protest. People were constantly in and out visiting, but when Satou and Takagi came by with cases, Kaito nearly kicked them out.

He did take the cases from them, despite their protests.

“He shows me everything anyway. This is not an apartment with secrets, detectives.”  Kaito wanted to give a hard no, but the way Shinichi’s eyes lit up at the sight of work made him look years younger.  Sighing, he picked out the weirdest and least upsetting cases in the pile.  “The rest of these you put on hold until he’s recovered.  Deal?”

“Roger that,” Satou said, tucking them in her bag. She laughed, shaking her head.  “I still can’t believe you got married before me, Kudou.  I mean, I thought it was an act or something at first, but I’m happy for you.  You guys clearly love each other.”

With that bombshell, she took Takagi by the hand and headed back to work. Kaito stared after them, dumbfounded.  His eyes dropped to the files before getting caught by the flash of his ring. _Love, huh…_ The word clicked into place, like he’d known but had forgotten the word. _Love_.  He felt a little like laughing at himself.  He really was an idiot.

“Uh, Kaito?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want a divorce.” Shinichi’s expression was earnest.  He was biting his lip.

Kaito smiled. “Okay.”

“What, really?”

“Shinichi, I might have been too dumb to realize I was in love with you, but I got the rings for our phony marriage _engraved_.  Aren’t you supposed to be a detective?”

“I—you’re the one who kept giving me mixed signals!”

Kaito sat down on Shinichi’s uninjured side and leaned into his shoulder. “You weren’t listening.  I _didn’t know_.  Until, like, a minute ago.”

Shinichi narrowed his eyes. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. Wish I were.  I’ve been thinking I had a heart condition or something for the past few months.”  Kaito glanced at Shinichi.  He looked disbelieving.  “I’m serious.  I actually feel a lot better now.  I thought I might be dying or something every time you smiled at me or touched your ring or basically existed in my vicinity, but I’m just in love with you.”

“You really are an idiot,” Shinichi breathed. He looked reluctantly impressed and more than a little embarrassed.

“I am, but you _married_ this idiot.”  Kaito grinned.  He’d always wanted to say that.  “Better, you don’t even want to _divorce_ this idiot.”

“And what if I change my mind,” Shinichi asked, clearly fighting down an indulgent smile. “What will you do then?”

“I’ll just have to steal back your heart,” he said, tapping Shinichi’s wedding ring. “I’m a thief, you know.”

“Anything else you’d like to steal, _Kaitou_?” Shinichi asked, leaning closer.

Kaito smiled. “Now, Meitantei, I don’t think I’m going to need to steal anything, not when you’re looking so—”  Shinichi kissed him.  Kaito laughed against his mouth, delighted beyond words.  “Now who’s the thief?”

“You talk far too much, Kaito,” Shinichi mumbled.

Running his fingers through Shinichi’s hair, Kaito pressed their lips back together. “I guess you’ll just have to give me something else to do, then, won’t you?”

Shinichi answered him with another kiss, deeper than before. Kaito sighed, quickly lost to it.  After a few minutes, he eased Shinichi back and settled himself between his legs, pulling away from his mouth to kiss along his jaw.

“Kaito, what are you—”

Kaito nipped his neck playfully. Shinichi gasped.

“I want to kiss you better.” Kaito kissed his neck and then the top of his uninjured shoulder.  “Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” Shinichi said, sounding breathless. “Doctor’s orders, right?”

Kaito sealed their lips together with a soft noise. Shinichi cupped his neck, gentling the kiss once more.  “How did I not realize how much I love you,” Kaito mumbled into his mouth.  He was _married_ and the last time they kissed was at their _wedding_.

“I don’t know,” Shinichi sighed. Kaito pressed a kiss against the bandage on his shoulder.  “I’ve been in love with you for, mm, probably close to two years?”  Kaito kissed his palm where he remembered seeing scrapes.

“And you never said anything?”

“How could I? The first time you expressed any interest in me, you asked me to marry you for a scholarship.”

“You said you could use it, too,” Kaito protested.

Shinichi closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Kaito, my father is a famous novelist, and my mother is an actress.  I have a job as a paid consultant for the police.  I’m hardly in need of money.”  He smiled, drawing Kaito back up into another kiss.  “Honestly, I just wanted to be able to say I married the love of my life.”

Kaito decided that nothing should be said after a line like that and made sure their mouths were too occupied to try. Even as the room got dark around them, they stayed wrapped up in each other, kissing periodically.  Kaito felt warm from head to foot.  More than that, he felt like he was _home_.


End file.
